A Day in the Forest
by The1upguy
Summary: A family outing that goes terribly wrong...or does it?


**Writer's block suck, but that means I'm back to Spyro for a bit, however, this is just gonna be a short story. But also not a one shot, cause I must write the action sequence that will happen. You will understand when you read.**

 **Anyway, Spyro fans, this moment in the lives of our heroes will follow my last story entitled 'A Family Reunion'. Now, if you haven't, you don't _need_ to read that to understand this, but it would help to know some of the past I envisioned. However, I think you will still understand without it.**

 _ **Sometimes the most anxious moments can be the most mundane. And sometimes the strongest emotions you feel are not when you expect them.**_

* * *

A Day in the Forest

The Forbidden Forest protects Warfang from attack, as the thick foliage and impassable terrain makes moving an army against the Southern Wall impossible. However, the outer edge of the forest is not as dense or dangerous, making it a very popular place for a dragon to find some cooling shade, especially during the dog days of summer.

Today, hundreds of Warfang's citizens, and not just dragons, fill a large makeshift camp site, enjoying the cooler temperatures under a vast green canopy, as well as the other aspects of 'the great outdoors'. The enticing smell of charring meats and roasting vegetables keep many by the large BBQ pit, which also becomes the place for gossip. But the majority have found their own secluded spot to enjoy a lazy day in the woods with their families.

Cynder and Spyro, now married for half a dozen years, have actually taken their family deeper into the forest than most, as they have vast knowledge of the thick brush and know there is no real danger to speak of. They look for the peace and quiet they cannot get in the city, as the newest member of their growing family has drawn the same overwhelming crowds their daughter drew, even after hatching a full year ago.

This young purple and black whelping now lays between his mom and dad, resting comfortably after the long exhausting journey from his home, flown in momma's paws.

Spyro and Cynder also enjoy a nice quiet slumber, dreaming the same dreams they had as children. The ones they never thought would come true.

However, Faith, being a high-stung five year old, still had plenty of energy to spare. And now that she is out in the woods, the young dragoness was ready to play. So, being the good brother that he is, Sparx makes sure Spyro and his beloved get the rest they deserve, by challenging his pink and black highlighted niece to a simple game of hide and seek.

"That's a child's game!" is what the child said, making a twenty something yellow dragonfly feel a bit fool-hearted. But of course, being Sparx, the tiny insect lured her into this game with several taunts and a gentleman's bet.

"It's cause you can't find me!" he said, then removed a single truffle from his satchel. "In fact, if you can find me in less than an hour, I'll give you the last one of these."

Her eyes lit up the moment she saw the savory mushroom, and an instant later Faith closed them and began counting to one hundred. Now, nearly an hour has passed since she seen him fly into the thicket, and though Faith has become annoyed, the tiny dragoness has not given up.

"I'm gonna find you, Uncle Sparx!" she yells at a large tree, believing she has finally narrowed down her search to the spot her uncle has hidden himself. Her voice is accompanied by a strong gust of wind, as her mother's powers are a strong part of the ladies makeup.

The branches around him begin swaying, forcing the yellow dragonfly to take precautions.

"Not using old tricks like that." he says quietly, grasping on to the bough before him and swaying with the breeze, holding himself out of the view of the tiny pink dragoness. He makes sure she is looking in another direction before increasing the volume of his voice.

"You learned that _kiddie_ move from your mom."

Faith's eyes fill with anger, hearing the taunting tone in his voice, and return to the tree her uncle hides in.

"And you are not very good at hide and seek cause you can't keep quiet!" she replies, focusing in on the area where she heard his annoying voice and taking flight to tag her favorite uncle.

"YOU'RE IT!" She yells proudly, then looks around with a blank expression, as the spot she knew he was hiding is empty.

A wide smile fills both of their faces. For Faith, realizing her uncle is not playing with kid gloves, and is actually making her work to find him. And Sparx, because he can see a gleam in his niece's eyes as she takes on a whole new attitude in this child's game.

"You're pretty good, Uncle Sparx..." she says, then suddenly her voice turns a bit dark. "...but I know a trick that my mommy didn't teach."

The yellow dragonfly becomes mortified as a small flame begins billowing from his little niece's mouth, and he cringes further as the small dragoness draws in a deep breath.

"STOP! FAITH! ARE YOU CRAZY!?"

Her mouth immediately closes, snuffing the impending inferno, and a cheeky grin fills her face, especially seeing the tiny insect that has uncovered himself from his hiding spot.

"HA HA! You fell for that!" the young lady laughs in his face after quickly flying over and tapping the startled insect with her paw.

"You're it!"

Sparx shakes his head as his little niece begins spinning around wildly, taunting the yellow dragonfly with her impromptu celebration dance.

"I wonder... Where on Avalar did you learned _that_ trick?" Sparx asks condescendingly, knowing he is the influence to her deception, and once again a very wide grin crosses Faith's narrow muzzle.

"I learned that from my _favorite_ uncle..." she pauses as Sparx smiles, knowing Faith is talking about him, but yet she answers with a different name.

"...Blake!"

The yellow insect gives her such a hard look, but she quickly uses a paw to pull him to her nose, giving the little dragonfly a hug.

"I'm kidding, Uncle Sparx." Faith holds him softly against the tip of her nose, staring into the eyes of the little insect she loves. "You know I get all my good tricks from you and dad."

Sparx is overwhelmed with love and admiration for this young dragoness, as Faith has taken the place of a missing best friend, who he lost the day his brother married. She has become his new compatriot in life, and like with his father, the yellow insect has become a fixture beside Faith's right horn. The small dragonfly opens his arms across her nose, hugging the pink drake as tightly as he can. And though his touch is faint on her scales, the little dragoness feels every bit of the love her uncle Sparx gives.

"Well isn't this just perfect, Boys?" a sudden gruff voice brakes the tender moment, forcing both Sparx and Faith to look in the direction this fake sentiment came from.

"Our job has become so much easier, now that one of his children have decided to venture away... _alone_." another voice remarks, and quickly the two realize the trouble they've stumbled into.

A dozen large Grizzlies surround the area, all showing their teeth as well as the sharp blades they've unsheathed. The group, standing tall on their hind legs to extenuate their size, encroach upon the pink dragoness and her companion, forcing them under a thick bushy tree, giving the two fliers no way to retreat up.

"Yeah! Eleven of us won't die now, trying to distract her parents." another bear remarks sarcastically. A wide grin fills his face, knowing the difficulty this group of twelve were anticipating from Spyro and Cynder.

"However, we will have to split the ransom _twelve_ ways..." he continues with a snicker, opening up a canvas sack they brought to stuff this young dragon or her brother into. He pauses for a moment to look around at his friends, and his smile gets a bit wider and more creepy.

"...I guess we will just have to ask for more gold!"

* * *

As this evil group encroaches, a young Shadow dragon finishes his mile long run back to camp. The fear in his heart only increasing as he comes upon the sleeping purple dragon and his wife, wondering how he can explain himself.

"Master Spyro! Master Spyro!"

The young dragon's terrified voice wakes the purple hero immediately, as this whelpling is a friend of his daughter. However, Spyro quickly clamps a paw around the youngster's mouth as his shouts have disturbed his sleeping wife and child.

"Easy Shade..." The purple dragon quietly remarks, holding the youngster's mouth closed until he relaxes a little. However, seeing the panic growing in the boy's eyes, Spyro releases his mouth.

"...try to settle down and tell me what's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, but I was following Faith around again...and I know you told me not to do that cause it's rude, but I wasn't spying on her, or using my Shadow power this time, I swear."

His eyes show fear, waiting for the purple dragon to begin yelling again, as Spyro has shown his distaste in the six year old dragon whom seems very infatuated with his daughter. However, seeing a deeper terror within Shade's eyes, Spyro drops the overprotective dad routine to get to the root of the youngster's concern.

"What happened, Shade?" Spyro asks calmly, as well as Cynder, who has quickly awoken to the sound of fear in the young black dragon's voice.

"Yeah! Tell us what's the matter?

"There's a large group of Grizzles surrounding Faith!" he says and, without another word, Spyro is gone, taring off into the woods towards the energy he can now sense from his daughter.

Cynder quickly grasps the young black and silver chested drake, pulling him face to face.

"Where Shade?!" She barks and the youngster points in the direction Spyro just ran while answering with fear in his words.

"There were a dozen Grizzlies, Ms. Cynder...or I would have tried to stop them."

Cynder consoles the young dragon with a hug, then looks down at her baby, whom has woken up from the commotion.

Still too young to understand words, but understanding his mother's body language and mood, the tiny purple and gold dragon shows fear himself.

A loud explosion of power suddenly rocks the entire forest, and this brings fear to Cynder as well, sensing the energy coming from deep in the forest.

"HELP!" the black dragoness cries desperately, hoping her voice will make it through the thicket, and still be heard in the loud campsite.

She knows leaving her son alone in the woods with Shade could be dangerous, especially if someone is trying to attack her family. And bringing them into an unknown battle would be equally unacceptable. However, as her cry is quickly answer by a gray Earth dragon, who himself had gone deep into the woods for a day of piece and quiet from the world, the black dragoness suddenly holds her tongue.

"Where are you?" Clayton barks out, hoping to get another shout so he can focus in on where the distress call came from.

Cynder quickly recognizes the voice, and though the terrified mother needs help, she is not eager to ask it from him. The black and red dragoness remains silent, not wanting to draw the one citizen of Warfang who remains truculent towards her, as Clayton has found it impossible to shake the past. And though her mouth remains shut, it takes only a few seconds for the Earth dragon to find where the call for assistance came from.

"Oh...it's _you_!" the Earth drake remarks with an uncaring tone, losing interest the moment he sees the black dragoness that took his brother from him. And though he no longer wants her dead, Clayton will have nothing to do with the Terror of the Sky.

However, after hearing an explosion, seeing the young Shadow dragon she is consoling, and noticing Spyro has left her and his baby alone in the woods, Clayton realizes there is something more important than his anger.

"Do you need assistance, Ma'am?"

His question and tone are shocking to her, as the gray dragon still seems willing to help, however, Cynder is truly confused, not knowing if she wants this dragon's assistance.

"My daughter may be in trouble and I need to help her, but." she begins to say and Clayton quickly raises a paw.

"Do you need me to watch your son?" He asks, and Cynder pauses as the thought becomes a bit scary.

"I don't know if I can..." she mumbles softly, looking around the large gray dragon, hoping to see anyone else approaching from the camping area.

"Please, Cynder..." Clayton interrupts, a small scowl crossing his face. "...regardless of what you are thinking, I would never do anything to hurt your child. My issues have been with you... and only you."

The Earth dragon extends a paw out to the young purple whelpling held in momma's paw, and with a single talon, scratches the spot that makes him laugh.

"And I already have some experience with little Ignitus, when Spyro brings him to the palace. He becomes the center of everyone's attention." he continues in a soft tone, then suddenly his voice returns to the tone he normally uses when addressing her.

"But if you wish me too, I will go."

"No!" Cynder replies anxiously, knowing she has no time. The Shadow dragoness pecks her son upon the head before handing him to a dragon her husband trusts.

"I know the respect you have and give to Spyro and our children."

The black dragoness holds her baby for an extra moment, not wanting to give him up, however, as another powerful jolt of energy is felt from deep in the forest, momma knows she needs to help her other baby.

"Please, Clayton. Allow me one last time to say I'm sorry." her voice is softer than any other apology she has given to the gray dragon, whose family she destroyed long ago. However, never wanting to hear her beg for forgiveness that he will not give, the gray dragon begins to show his scowl again.

But what she says is not expected.

"I should have never doubted an _Earth_ dragon's valor."

Cynder releases her child into the suddenly shaky paws of a normally strong stable dragon and takes off into the woods. His eyes convincing a mother to give the same trust her husband gives, knowing her baby will be protected from danger.

Clayton draws the tiny whelpling to his chest as he panics, seeing his father and now mother leaving in a hurry.

"Shhhhhhh" the large Earth dragon cranes his head down to whisper into the youngster's ear.

"Easy young Ignitus. I'll make sure no body hurts you until mommy and daddy get back."

He wraps his wings around the little dragon and himself, hugging him tighter and smiling like a fool to make the child stop crying. Which he does. Clayton then notices a very panicked Shade, whom begins tugging on his right wing, looking up to the only adult with tears in his eyes.

"Is Faith gonna be okay, Mister Clayton, Sir? Please say she will."

His voice begs the large dragon to pick him up and console him, which Clayton does, using his free paw to scoop the other small whelp into his grasp.

"She will be fine, little one." he says with confidence, watching Cynder disappear into the Shadows of the forest, and truly feeling sorrow for the idiots that just opened Pandora's box. "If Faith has only half the resolve of her mother, then I pity the fools that have tried to ruin this day of rest for Spyro and Cynder."

* * *

"Maybe you should go back and get my daddy, Sparx." Faith tells the little dragonfly that now hovers in front of her nose, his arms spread out wide to guard her.

"I can't leave you alone." he returns, his eyes locked upon the closest Grizzly, whose blade is nearly ten times the yellow insect's size. However, Sparx glances back at his niece, showing Faith true fear within his eyes.

"Your dad would kill me if I just abandoned you to be taken."

Faith gives a little chuckle then grasps her tiny uncle with a soft paw. She pulls him back to her right horn, making sure Sparx remains behind _her_ guard.

"Who says these guys are gonna have the chance to take me?"

"You're pretty brave for such a little girl!" the lead bear remarks with a snicker in his voice as well, not fearing the small pink dragoness that crouches into a defensive posture. However, his confident grin is removed as the small dragon starts calling on her parent's lineage.

The large brown haired beast suddenly feels a twinge in his heart, especially as the young dragoness shows the tell tale signs of a Fury Transformation. Her pink color darkens to near jet black, and Faith's eyes flash with intense power, turning pure white.

"I will show you what this _little girl_ can do if you don't leave me and my uncle alone." she returns, her voice no longer having the gentle or sweet tone of a young lady.

The large bear takes a step back, as does the entire group of Grizzlies, sensing the same Fury they have felt from countless demonstrations of this power by Spyro and Cynder.

"She's bluffing!" one bear calls out, pointing his large blade at the young dragon.

"She can't stop all of uuuuuggghhhhh..."

The large Grizzly is silenced and knocked off his feet by a fast moving stone, which Faith had her paw on since being backed into a corner. Her vision and senses focus on a second bear that makes a sudden move towards her, and quickly she flicks another rock with her tail, smacking him in the face.

"I don't know what that means!" Faith barks when everyone stops moving towards her, not fully understanding the word bluff, except that it means deception. Her white eyes return to the leader, making sure he understands by talking to him like a six year old.

"But if you think I'm _lying_...Well I can tell you I don't do that!"

A great laugh is given by the large bear, who sees the spirit of a warrior within the little dragoness

"Forgive my friend's poor choice of words, as well as mine." he remarks, walking over to his downed compatriot and helping him back to his feet.

"You are obviously not a little girl..." his voice suddenly becomes angry as he draws a small crossbow from his side. In the blink of an eye, his arrow is aimed at her hind quarters and loosed.

"...SO I SHALL TREAT YOU AS SUCH!"

* * *

The moment he heard his baby girl was in trouble, Spyro stopped Time and started the longest Comet Dash of his life. His focus turned to the beat of his daughter's heart, which he now feels pounding almost a mile away.

 _I'm coming Baby._ he says to himself, charging through the Forbidden Forest at breakneck speed, clearing a direct path to his little girl.

The purple dragon picks up the pace further, feeling the energy that is so much like his own. It scares him, sensing the Fury power he once had trouble controlling as a teen, now being unleashed by his six year old daughter.

"NO! FAITH!" he yells with fear as the ground under his feet begins to rumble, and the sky before him lights up with a dark shade of purple. Spyro's paws burn the sand under his feet, making a trail of glass paw prints where he steps. His body passes through dozens of trees, ripping them down with an unnatural force, leaving a wake of charred tinder in his path.

The young father becomes deathly concerned for his daughter, and not just for her physical well-being. He is truly terrified that she may kill someone with this overwhelming power, and that would lead to his baby having the same nightmares he and Cynder must endure.

Shockingly, this is not what he finds to be the case, as Spyro reaches the small clearing his first born just created. In fact, the purple dragon can barely believe the scene he comes upon.

An entire acre of the forest is gone, flattened to the ground by an intense blast. Only a single tree remains standing, and without most of its branches, as the force of this explosion equaled the power of an F4 tornado. And much like a storm of that nature, the swath of open land is littered with the debris of anything that was previously standing there.

Including a dozen Grizzly Bears.

The forest becomes eerily silent, as only the faint sound of settling timber and the chirping of several small disoriented critters can be heard. However, within a few seconds there is another sound, and this noise brings music to Spyro's ears.

Painful murmurs of agony rise up from the smoldering group of bears, allowing the purple dragon to relax slightly, knowing his daughter has not crossed a line he was forced to as a youngster.

 _She didn't kill anyone._ he says to himself with a grin, but then the smirk leaves as he looks around at the carnage once again.

"But how?"

"SAY YOU'RE SORRY, YOU JERK!" Faith's voice finally rises from the ashes, drawing poppa's eyes to his pride and joy.

The purple dragon is dumbfounded to see his sweet innocent little girl, standing atop a very large bear. Her claws are dug into his scorched back causing more pain than he has already endured.

"I'm sorry!" he cries and Faith reaches forward, grasping his muzzle to move it in the direction she chooses. The young dragoness forces the large bear to stare into her eyes, which again she flashes white to show she still has power left over.

"He didn't hear you!" Faith barks in his face, slamming the large bear's snout back to the ground, pointing it at the yellow dragonfly who is laying before them.

"Say it louder!"

"I'M SORRY! PLEASE...I'M SORRY!" He cries, the pain throughout his body coming out in his voice.

"Do you believe him, Uncle Sparx?" she asks, and the large bear uses his eyes to beg the tiny dragonfly for mercy.

"I don't know...I guess so." Sparx returns, slowly batting his wings to make sure they still work. And though they are sore, the fragile membranes have not been damaged, after being swatted from the sky. He zips over to the bear who struck him, stopping directly before his tear-filled eyes.

"You're lucky I'm used to getting knocked out of the sky..." he says sarcastically, then glances at his niece showing her a very snide grin. "...and by somebody a lot stronger than a Grizzly."

Faith releases the large bear and crosses her arms.

"Come on, I haven't swatted at you in a while, Uncle Sparx." she remarks and quickly dad's voice startles her.

"Cause you taught Ignitus to do it for you."

Sparx eyes open wide, focusing on the young pink dragoness he has become so close with, showing pure shock in the news he just heard.

"Oh really!?" he says, crossing his arms before her. "You said your dad taught him to do that."

Faith turns to her father, who now removes his daughter from the back of a large smoldering bear, wrapping her in his arms and wings.

"Daddy!? Why'd you say th..."

The purple dragon squeezes his daughter tightly, snuffing her complaint, thankful that she is completely unharmed. He could care less of the argument he started between the two best friends, as only her safety was his concern.

However, being the good father he is, Spyro does give his reason for throwing her under the bus.

"Because I love seeing the same connection my baby girl has with my little brother, just like I do." he whispers into his winged embrace, telling his daughter how proud he is of her actions to defend 'her dragonfly'.

"Umm...you mean you're _big_ brother, right!?" Sparx argues, drawing a smirk from the purple dragon. Spyro opens a wing and snatches his older sibling from the sky, adding him to the embrace he has with his daughter.

"Only by two hours, little guy"

The three stay in the humorous moment until a terrified voice is heard from behind, as momma finally reaches the end of the path her husband just cut through the woods.

"WHERE IS MY BABY!" Cynder cries out with fear, only seeing her husband standing within the acre of unbelievable carnage.

Quickly Spyro opens his wings, showing off the tiny pink dragoness he is holding tightly, allowing Cynder to calm slightly. And though she can see the smile on her daughter's face, the black dragoness still races across the damaged grounds as fast as she can, adding herself to this embrace.

"Are you okay, Sweetie?" she asks, not allowing Faith to answer as she smothers the young girl with love and emotion and a hundred little kisses.

"What did those bears do? Did they hurt you?"

Again, faith cannot answer the questions, as momma finds the closest smoldering Grizzly and grasps him by the only tuft of fur he has left on his head.

"WHY DID YOU GO AFTER MY BABY!?"

Spyro takes a minute before settling his wife, enjoying the fear that fills the eyes of the leader of this group of kidnapers. He waits for the right moment, letting Cynder get a few good shots in before asking the question that is on everyone's mind. _(Well at least those that are still conscious.)_

"Where's Ignitus, Honey?"

In a second, momma switches gears again, remembering her other child is still in the paws of a dragon she fears. Cynder turns to her husband, showing a bit of concern in her eyes, which worries the purple dragon. However, as she utters the stone dragon's name, Spyro's smile returns.

"Really!? You left him with _Clayton_?" he asks with astonishment in his words, as he never believed Cynder would leave her child with the only dragon in Warfang that still despises her. However, after a second, Spyro shows how he feels about this.

"That's fine, Ignitus likes him."

His words are nonchalant, showing he has no fear in this choice, but that still does not convince the Shadow dragoness, whose mind begins racing. Her past dictating her thoughts, recalling the hatred and rage Clayton has shown her brother's killer, along with the many angry confrontations he has had with her before. And though he has not been forceful or physical with his hatred recently, the anger is always present in his eyes.

So now, seeing her daughter is unharmed, and knowing this specific threat is over, Cynder immediately starts back to camp. Her heart begins pounding, making her paws move faster, hoping that she is only being paranoid. Faster and faster she runs and so to do the tears falling from her face, fearful that she has made a grave mistake.

Cynder leaves her husband and daughter in her wake, making a bee line for area she left her youngest child. And when she just about reaches this spot, her fears suddenly sound real as a faint squeal can be heard from her baby.

"NO!" She yells, drilling through the last hundred feet of thick brush that stands between her and her child, instead of going around it like she did before. However, as momma reaches the clearing, she realizes how badly she has misjudged the stone dragon.

Ignitus squeals again, but this time Cynder can see the reason for his cries, as Clayton spins him around in his rock solid paws, raising and lowering the tiny whelpling for a thrilling ride. She quickly disappears into a cloud of Shadows, never being seen by the dancing tandem, allowing the pair to continue their fun uninterrupted.

"WEEEEEE!" the gray dragon barks out, twirling around on a single hind paw, acting as if he is losing his balance, sending young Ignitus down towards ground again. At the last second he plants his other foot to regain balance and lifts him back up, causing the tiny purple and gold whelp to squeal with terror and joy all at once.

Watching in the dark silence of the shadow world, Cynder sits in amazement of how gentle this rock solid dragon truly is. Joy and sadness fill her heart, seeing a part of Clayton she never gets a chance to witness.

The pure joy of watching the large drake enjoying himself with her child. And the sadness, knowing that she can only watch this happen from the cold darkness of the Shadow world.

However, nothing can surprise her more than what she hears next.

"I know you are standing there Cynder," Clayton remarks with a grin, while staring into the striking purple eyes of the young dragon she bore. He then looks in her general direction, pointing Ignitus' attention that way as well. "so why don't you show yourself and let him see that his mother is fine."

The black dragoness emerges from the darkness, and quickly her child's eyes light up with the sight of momma. His tiny orange wings try to open wide while still held in the solid grasp of the Earth dragon, so Clayton opens his paws, cupping the excited child in his palms.

"He was upset when you left like you did, and I have been trying to keep him occupied. But as you can see, the boy has been a pawful." the gray dragon continues, striding over to Cynder and calmly returning her child unharmed.

He then places a paw upon her shoulder for stability, as the large dragon is still a bit dizzy from spinning around for the last few minutes.

"Excuse me. I didn't mean totouch you." he says, and with the same distaste he normally has when speaking to her, quickly pulling his paw from her body. He looks into the eyes of the dragon he despises and shockingly sees something he never expected.

Just like Ignitus, Cynder's eyes showed a range of emotions from fear to joy, as the last few minutes have been trying for her. However, unlike the young whelp, sadness quickly overtakes the gleam that was there, leaving the same somber gaze he gets from her eyes every time he sees her.

Clayton stares for a second, unsure of how to react, realizing now this is his fault.

"I'm guessing you don't need my assistance any longer, so before we start arguing again, maybe I should go." he remarks with as much attitude as he can muster, but even Cynder can hear his voice crack with disgust. He is truly upset at himself, only understanding now that the Terror of the Sky is gone and this innocent dragoness is what remains.

However, before he can turn to leave, Cynder shocks him again by planting a small kiss upon his cheek.

"Thank you, Clayton." she replies, quickly backing away from his reach, but remaining close enough for Ignitus to give his thanks. The little dragon does as he's told, yelping several times and showing the large dragon a grateful smile before Cynder runs back towards her husband.

"Wait!"

The Earth dragon's voice stops her cold, and Cynder looks back with confusion, thinking she did something wrong.

Spyro, who has made it back to camp with his daughter and brother in tow, now shows fear himself, as the Earth dragon moves closer to his wife. However, hearing his voice and seeing the look in Clayton's eyes, the purple dragon waits to intervene.

"If you ever need me to watch him again..." Clayton pauses, making sure what he is going to say is what he wishes to say, as all Earth dragon's are stubborn, but true to their word.

"...you may stop by my home and ask me."

Cynder's eyes open wide, hearing an invitation to visit a dwelling she was told to stay as far away from as possible. With shock in her eyes, she looks at her husband, who just simply shows his wife a smile.

The black dragoness slowly turns around, striding gingerly back to the gray dragon she avoids contact with. It makes Clayton cringe further, seeing the same fear he had for the Terror of the Sky, now being shown to him by Cynder.

"You mean, you would allow _me_ to come by your home?"

Her question sends a spike through his heart, realizing he has been the biggest reminder of her past, and the Earth dragon lowers his head. However, as Spyro approaches with his brother and daughter, the large dragon suddenly draws a smile across his muzzle.

"Well... You know... you could always have your husband drop him off."

His words are spilled out with a thick sarcastic accent, but still everyone takes a moment to just stare at him. Sparx is first to start laughing, as the little dragonfly understands this form of speech, being fluent in sarcasm, and soon everyone joins in on the joke.

Clayton reaches out his paw towards Ignitus, who opens his tiny orange wings, showing momma that he wants to fly over to him. Cynder hands the young boy over without hesitation this time, and the gray dragon takes the small purple whelpling in his paw. Then shockingly, with his empty paw, he takes the young dragon's mother in a single armed embrace.

The Earth master pulls a stunned Shadow dragoness to his chest, then drapes a wing around her as well.

"I am sorry, Cynder. I have been horrible to you these last few years." he says softly, lowering Ignitus back down into his mother's chest, then placing his other paw around them both.

Held securely within the confines of Clayton's arms and wings, Cynder begins shuddering in complete disbelief, not understanding what she did to be right here, right now. With her young son warmly snug against her chest, the black dragoness becomes very emotional, recalling the words an old hermit once spoke with conviction.

 _Not everyone will be willing to forgive and forget the past, Cynder._ she hears echoing in the wings of the one dragon who wouldn't, and finally hearing the words she was sure he would never say.

"I would appreciate if you could find it in your heart to forgive a stubborn old drake like myself."

In this one instance, all the pain fades away and Cynder's emotions come rushing to the surface. She wraps a single arm around the waist of the large dragon, embracing him as tight as she can, giving an answer without placing her son down. She begins crying, not sure how to handle the moment, as this feeling of pure contentment is unknown to her.

"Easy, Cynder." he says, looking up at her husband for help to console the black dragoness, but he only smiles and gestures his paw back at him.

"That right there, is the reason I love her, Clayton, and why I chose to fight for her all those years ago."

The Earth dragon immediately understands and simply nods his head up and down. He squeezes the black dragoness a bit tighter, showing his feeling as well. Though, he also takes a spike to his ribs.

Spyro grins as the tell tale sign of being poked by a sharp object crosses the gray dragon's face.

"However, _that_ took time getting used to."

* * *

 **Again as a reminder, this is not gonna be a full length story, just a moment in time. But I will post a second chapter, where we get to read how Faith beat the crap out of a dozen Grizzlies.**

 **That will be fun.**

 **So until the next writer's block I must endure, enjoy what I have here and anticipate the next part in a month or less...maybe...lol**

 **Mr. Reader, if you have a minute, give a review. It will put a smile on the writer's face and make him feel good for much longer a minute.**


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